Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 9/22/20 NBA Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets meet Tuesday in game three of the NBA Western Conference Finals at the AdventHealth Arena.   

The Los Angeles Lakers have a chance to take  commanding 3-0 series lead with another victory here. The Los Angeles Lakers are averaging 114.3 points on 49.5 percent shooting and allowing 105.8 points on 44.1 percent shooting. Anthony Davis is averaging 28.7 points and 10.7 rebounds while LeBron James is averaging 25.6 points and 8.7 assists. Kyle Kuzma is the third double-digit scorer and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is grabbing 1.8 rebounds. The Los Angeles Lakers are shooting 36.3 percent from beyond the arc and 74.1 percent from the free thitem line. The Los Angeles Lakers are allowing 36.9 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 45.6 rebounds per game.

The Denver Nuggets need a victory here in order to have a realistic chance of winning this series. The Denver Nuggets are averaging 107 points on 46.8 percent shooting and allowing 109.2 points on 47 percent shooting. Jamal Murray is averaging 26.6 points and 6.1 assists while Nikola Jokic is averaging 25.4 points and 10.2 rebounds. Michael Porter Jr. is the third double-digit scorer and Jerami Grant is grabbing 3.1 rebounds. The Denver Nuggets are shooting 38.6 percent from beyond the arc and 80.9 percent from the free thitem line. The Denver Nuggets are allowing 38.2 percent shooting from deep and are grabbing 41.2 rebounds per game.

The Lakers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 Tuesday games, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as a favorite and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games overall. The Nuggets are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games playing on 1 days rest, 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 Tuesday games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The under is 4-1 in Lakers last 5 overall. The under is 7-1-2 in Nuggets last 10 overall. The Lakers are 2-5 ATS in the last 7 meetings in Denver. The over is 21-8-2 in the last 31 meetings.

The Nuggets were 2.1 seconds away from winning game two and evening up this series, but Mason Plumlee had a brain fart on defense. It’s going to be interesting to see how the Nuggets bounce back from such a heartbreaking loss. With that said, I’ve said throughout the playoffs that the Nuggets area  deep team that can hang around with anybody as long as the defensive effort is there. The Nuggets have also shown us throughout these playoffs that they play their best ball when their backs are against the wall. The Nuggets have the horses to give themselves a chance in these games, and I’ll keep taking the points with them in these spots.